1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle seat cushion frame that is formed such that a framework of a seat cushion is formed by connecting front and rear sides of longitudinal frame members arranged at both right and left sides with lateral frame members, respectively, and a panel is fixed to both longitudinal frame members so as to cover a space between front end portions of both longitudinal frame members, including the front-side lateral frame member, from above.
2. Description of Related Art
In the event of a frontal collision of a vehicle, there may occur a so-called submarine phenomenon, that is, a phenomenon that the body of an occupant seated on a seat slips off forward and downward from a seat surface in a state where the occupant is restrained by a seatbelt. At this time, in terms of occupant protection, it is required for an excessive impact load not to act on the occupant. Therefore, in an existing art, various ideas are added to components around the seat. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-145538 (JP 2001-145538 A) describes an invention that allows part of a seat back frame to be easily deformed so that an excessive load does not act on the lumbar of an occupant in the event of a frontal collision of a vehicle. Furthermore, in some vehicles, energy generated as a result of movement of an occupant forward and downward of a seat is absorbed by deforming the front portion of a seat cushion against a load that is input from the front upper side of the seat cushion as a result of occurrence of a submarine phenomenon in the event of a frontal collision of the vehicle.
In seats of some vehicles, the amount of deformation that is required to absorb energy that is generated as a result of a submarine phenomenon cannot be ensured at a seat front portion. This is due to the following reason. A front-side lateral frame member that constitutes a framework of the seat is arranged below a panel that constitutes the seat front portion. Even when the panel deforms due to an impact load, deformation of the panel is impaired by the front-side lateral frame member. Therefore, the amount of absorption of energy through deformation of the panel becomes insufficient.